Maria Sharapova was suspended for two years by the International Tennis Federation on Wednesday, a result of her testing positive for the banned substance meldonium, a blood-flow boosting drug.

Sharapova can appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

She had been provisionally suspended since March after testing positive at the Australian Open in January. Sharapova said she had used meldonium since 2006 but was unaware the World Anti-Doping Agency banned it on Jan. 1.

Sharapova announced on March 7 that she failed a drug test at the Australian Open.

"I take great responsibility and professionalism in my career every day," Sharapova said in March. "I made a huge mistake. I let my fans down. I let my sport down."

Sharapova, 29, said she tested positive in an in-competition test at the Australian Open, where she lost to Serena Williams in the quarterfinals on Jan. 26. Sharapova hasn't played since, recovering from a left-forearm injury.

At her press conference in March, Sharapova said she had been taking the drug mildronate, also known as meldonium, for 10 years to address a number of health issues, including low magnesium levels. Meldonium is a blood-flow-promoting drug banned because it helps oxygen uptake and endurance.

Sharapova said she had been getting the flu every couple of months, had irregular EKGs and had evidence of diabetes, which runs in her family. She said she did not realize that mildronate and meldonium are the same drug and was not aware when rules changed Jan. 1 to make the drug illegal. She said that when the World Anti-Doping Agency sent an email about changes to the banned list in December, she did not click on the link to see that the substance had been added to the list.

Meldonium is manufactured in Latvia. It is used in Lithuania and the Russian Federation but is not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. A number of athletes have tested positive for the drug since Jan. 1: Abeba Aregawi (Ethiopian-born, Swedish nationality, 1,500-meter world champion), Eduard Vorganov (Russian cyclist), Endeshaw Negesse (Ethiopian marathoner), Ekaterina Bobrova (Russian ice dancer) and Olga Abramova (Ukranian biathlete).

Sharapova has 35 career singles titles and more than $36 million in career earnings. She is currently No. 26 in the WTA rankings.

Sharapova has been among the best players of her generation since she burst onto the scene as a 17-year-old Wimbledon champion in 2004, when she beat Williams in the final. She won the US Open in 2006 and the Australian Open in 2008 before completing her career Grand Slam with French Open titles in 2012 and 2014.

She became the world's top-ranked player in August 2005 and has held the ranking five times for 21 weeks in her career.

Mixed martial arts star Kimbo Slice, who died Monday night at the age of 42, was diagnosed with heart failure and informed he needed a heart transplant, according to a report by the South Florida Sun Sentinel.

Citing a medical report made by the Northwest Medical Center in Margate, the Sun Sentinel reported that Slice, birth name Kevin Ferguson, was admitted to the hospital on June 3, complaining of "severe abdominal pain, shortness of breath and nausea."

The report states Ferguson was placed on a ventilator in intensive care and was scheduled to be transported to Cleveland, where he would be placed on a donors list. Trauma and foul play are not suspected in the fighter's death.

Mike Imber, Slice's longtime manager and childhood friend, confirmed to ESPN.com that Slice entered the medical facility on June 3. According to Imber, Slice appeared to be doing well until Monday, when the situation turned.

"He went to Germany around March and got really sick while he was there," Imber said. "I don't know what he thought it was, but he just felt sick. On Friday (June 3), he had bad chest pains and went to the hospital. I went and visited him on Friday and he seemed OK. I didn't feel like I was going to lose my friend in two days, by any means. He seemed concerned, but he seemed all right.

"I talked to him that Saturday and Sunday, and he was still in the hospital. I said, 'something's not right.' On Monday, his wife called and told me he had stopped breathing."

Slice (5-2) was scheduled to fight James Thompson at Bellator 158 on July 16 in London, but according to Mike Brown, his head coach at American Top Team, Slice had intended to withdraw from the event.

"He had a few things going on," Brown said. "He had a crazy hiccup problem and he had high blood pressure. He also had a problem that had something to do with his gallbladder. We had talked about him pulling out of the fight. That's what he was going to do. I don't know if he had done that officially yet, but a decision had already been made not to fight."

The fix wasn't in. Golden State ran out of luck and had no mental toughness the entire series and Curry had a horrible game. That is why basketball was built around post play for 70 years rather than jump shooters. They also should never have opted to try for 73 wins and then rushed curry back in the early rounds.

Plus there is no benefit for choosing cleveland over golden state. A 73 win championship is probably even a bigger boon for the league and its new favorite son than giving a title to a smaller town with no history riding on it going into the series. Golden State was worn down by Oklahoma city too and showed a crack in the armor.

The fix wasn't in. Golden State ran out of luck and had no mental toughness the entire series and Curry had a horrible game. That is why basketball was built around post play for 70 years rather than jump shooters. They also should never have opted to try for 73 wins and then rushed curry back in the early rounds.

Plus there is no benefit for choosing cleveland over golden state. A 73 win championship is probably even a bigger boon for the league and its new favorite son than giving a title to a smaller town with no history riding on it going into the series. Golden State was worn down by Oklahoma city too and showed a crack in the armor.

1996 Bulls are the best team in history anyway.

BullsBlackhawksBearsCubs

The 2015-2016 Golden State Warriors team will be remembered as the biggest choke-job artists in the history of the NBA. Sorry, but when you go 3-1 in the finals, YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO FINISH THE JOB! At least the 2007-2008 Patriots could argue that they fell victim to the 'Any given Sunday' rule that the NFL has. (The 2008 0-16 Detroit Lions being the exception that proved the rule.) Yeah, the may have won 1 more game then the 1996 Bulls, but they didn't finish. The 1996 Bulls did.

No one here watch football (soccer for you Americans)?If anyone does, who are you rooting for in Euro 2016? I'm rooting for my country, Portugal, but I don't think we're going to make it to the final. Our team is just not efficient enough.

_______________"Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it." - George Santayana

Technically it is unclear what that curse entailed. Many believe it meant the Cubs would never win a pennant and thus never play in the Series again. Others say world series. Many fascinating connections with that goat. The goat's name was Murphy, which was the surname of the cubs owner in 1908, the stadium they lost in in 1984. Names of Mets officials in 1969 and player last year. 2003 the closest they were before this year was the year of the goat. Interesting fact about that. bartman ball from that game was blown up at Harry Caray's Restaurant next door by none other than JP alum Michael Lantieri.